A Wayzata man has been charged with breaking into a home in Plymouth and stealing jewelry which, police say, he later sold at a Wayzata jewelry store.
Patrick Henry McKeever, 25, is charged with receiving stolen property, a felony with a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine.
The victims called police on Nov. 23 and reported that someone had burglarized their home in the 18700 block of 11th Avenue North while they were out of town and had stolen a safe containing a number of pieces of valuable jewelry, according to the criminal complaint, signed by Plymouth Police Officer Kevin Pregler.
The victims told police that they suspected their nephew, McKeever, whom they said was addicted to drugs and had been in legal trouble for several years, according to the complaint.
Police searched more than a dozen jewelry and coin shops and found eight of the 36 pieces of stolen jewelry at Graham Jewelers in Wayzata. The store owner, who was acquainted with McKeever, said McKeever had sold nine pieces of jewelry to him on Nov. 23 for $2,800.
The transaction was captured on surveillance video. McKeever cashed the jewelry store check at Flagship Bank in Wayzata the same day, according to the complaint, and was also caught on surveillance video at the bank.
McKeever subsequently admitted to police that he had sold the jewelry at Graham Jewelers and cashed the check at Flagship Bank, according to the complaint. He voluntarily turned over a grocery bag containing 18 additional pieces of jewelry that were stolen from the Plymouth home, the complaint says.
McKeever’s criminal record includes a felony theft conviction in Hennepin County in October, for which he was placed on three years’ supervised probation.
McKeever has been released from custody on a $10,000 bond. An omnibus hearing in his case is scheduled Jan. 22 in Hennepin County District Court.
